Meet Huton
by BluebirdSunflower
Summary: Huton is a kunoichi gator bandit. Fung and his gang, mostly Fung, want her in their gang.
1. First Encounter

**This story takes place before episode "Chain Reaction". Fung had said that the crocs had given themselves a year to become bandits and that they were "11 months in." This is one of their earlier heists.**

The gator was easily noticeable in a quiet forest, muttering to herself as she rolled a pillar-shaped statue down the path. Fung and his new gang became excited when they realized the statue was decorated with an emerald, a ruby, a sapphire, an onyx, a citrine, and a pearl.

Fung evaluated the alligator. She was alone, and with the statue being quite heavy she was sure to grow tired. However, she had two sword scabbards criss-crossed across her back, she could easily reach over her shoulders for either sword. Obviously she was a warrior. Then again, he had a whole gang of armed crocodiles with him.

"Do I have time to pee?" a gharial croc asked as Fung outlined his plan.

"Well, if you hurry," Fung sighed.

The crocs carefully circled around the gator, stopping and laying low whenever she stopped and looked around. She seemed to notice any sound louder than an eye-blink, despite talking to herself. Finally Fung stepped out behind the gator, signalling his men to attack. The gator, Huton, jumped backwards, drawing both swords.

The crocs' larger numbers began to take its toll on Huton; she was pressed further and further away from the statue. Any minute now she knew she would be at the edge of the - yep, there it was, the cliff. The gang was made up of some gharials, another breed she could not identify, and a big mugger. The mugger wore a spiked helmet and was obviously the leader. He ordered for her capture. Huton was too prideful to allow herself to be captured, so she went with her only other option; sheathing one sword, she jumped over the side of the cliff.

The crocs did not dare watch the gator's descent; they did not particularly want to see what smashed allogator looks like. Fung and his men went back to the statue, where two crocs straightened it up. "Where's the emerald?" asked Fung when he noticed an empty hole. No one answered. "Where's the ruby? And the sapphire? And- okay guys, funny joke, now hand me the gems."

A croc named Wall-Eye spoke up, "We don't have 'em. I think I saw the gator take them."

Fung stared at him, "That's great, that you just watched that happen. Next time though," he removed his helmet, "you think you can _stop her!?_" He slammed the helmet on the ground, "Now get those jewels back!"

Huton had grabbed a branch during her fall. Sheathing her sword, she dropped down onto a ledge lower down, then climbed down to the ground. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a silken bag with the jewels inside. Knowing the crocs would be after her, she began looking for a place to hide the jewels...and the three money pouches she had grabbed.

Fung suddenly stopped running as he realized what seemed to be missing. Checking his belt, he declared "My money! It's missing!" A gharial named Gah-ri and a deep-voiced croc named Hong also checked for their missing money pouches. When the crocs reached the bottom of the cliff and found no gator there, they ran into the bamboo forest. A croc named Irwin, who had a nervous habit of biting his tail, was the first to spot her. The crocs shouted and began throwing spears and hatchets at the gator. Without looking back, she climbed up a bamboo tree. Three feet away from the top she bent it nearly to the ground, then launched into the air, landing in another tree. Jumping and swinging, she soon was out of sight.

It was dumb luck that they found her, climbing an apple tree and eating apples. Fung whispered to the others to stay out of sight. The gator ate, but her eyes were on a big apple at the top of the tree. _She's not really going to try for it, is she?_ Fung thought to himself. _Those branches are way too thin!_

Being stubborn, Huton tried to get to the big apple. She did manage to grab it, but the branches snapped under her weight. She landed on her stomach, throwing up the apples she had just eaten. The guys winced, listening to her painful groans. Fung and his crocs stood up and approached; the gator did nothing about them. "Hey, are you okay?" asked Fung.

"Do I look okay?" she answered in a winded voice. Fung ordered the crocs to seize her. Later Huton was tied to a small bamboo. "Listen, you got a job to do, I got a job to do, so why don't you tell us where the jewels and my money are?"

"Or what," she asked sarcastically, "you're gonna play 'Good Croc, Bad Croc'?"

Gahri knocked over a row of hatchets next to Fung, "I'M DONE PLAYING THESE GAMES WITH YOU!-"

Fung shook his head, "Forget it, Gary, she knows."

"Oh, okay, I guess I'll just clean up these weapons...and it's Gahri." Fung shoved him over.

"Alright, we'll do this the hard way!" Fung started, but suddenly the gator kicked him between the legs. "OHHH! DARNIT! Everyone back up, she's got a vicious kick!" he ran in a circle, "Who didn't tie her below the knees? Come on guys," he faced the crocs, his back to Huton, "this is basic stuff! OHHH!" his helmet fell off as she kicked him again. After a few seconds he straightened up, putting his helmet back on. "I'm done going easy on you!" he said sinisterly. The gator merely smirked.

"Listen, my boss is gonna turn me into shoe leather if I don't come back with both the statue _and_ the jewels. So how's this; I'll give you back your money and you let me go with the statue and gems." Unfortunately, Fung was not in a bargaining mood. As he turned to the hatchets, Huton used her tail to pick up a pebble. Without the guys seeing, she tossed it into the forest.

"There's an intruder in the woods!" Fung and the crocs ran to investigate, but Fung stopped behind the gator, "Looks like we're gonna do this the hard way! OW!" her tail whacked him in the side of the head. "Darn it!" he muttered as he followed the others.

Once she was alone, Huton used her legs and tail to slide herself up the bamboo. Sitting on the top, she wriggled her arms to remove the rope, freeing herself. Just as she was rolling the statue away, the crocs returned.

"Okay, show us where the money is," Fung sighed, apparently defeated. The gator was leashed as she led them back towards the place where she had jumped from the cliff, digging next to a tree. Fung ordered two of his crocs to take over the digging, shoving Huton aside. They came up with the three money pouches, but no gems.

"You don't really think I would hide them in the same place, do you?" she smirked. Fung groaned, exasperated. The gator refused to show or tell them where the jewels were hidden. Suddenly, a throwing star knocked off Fung's helmet, and voices called out for the gator to be released and the statue surrendered. Not knowing how many people had them surrounded, Fung and his men had no choice but to comply.

"GAH!" Fung spread his arms out as Huton and her friends left with the statue, "Let's never let this happen again!"


	2. Fighting Lidong

**This chapter is between episodes "Kung Fu Daycare" and "Huge", while Lidong is still big.**

There was that gator girl again, all by herself. They had just seen her hold up a rickshaw, and she had gotten away with quite a lot of money. Fung was sure this time, now that they had his cousin Lidong with them, she would be easy pickings.

"Halt, uh, gal!" he called as his crocs surrounded her. (He had not caught her name the last time they met.)

Huton looked unconcerned at the crocs. She was not really in the mood to fool with these bunglers.

"Hand over the money!" Fung held out his arm for the money sack.

The gator sighed, "I don't have time for this. How about I fight one of you, and if I win I can leave with my loot."

Fung smiled sinisterly, "Alright. OH LIDONG!" The ground shook as the big croc walked into sight.

The gator was not even phased! Lidong ran at her, but she dodged, holding out an arm as she flipped him over. Lidong sat up puzzled as he looked at her; she waited for him to come at her again. She dodged his attacks easily, and eventually she threw him on his back and stood beside him, holding one sword pointed at his chest, the other sword hovered over his throat. (A.N. For a better idea what the fight looked like, look up "TMNT 2012 Splinter and Leatherhead" on YouTube) "Had enough?" the gator smirked. Lidong nodded, actually scared for the first time since he had grown.

The crocs all watched with dropped jaws as the gator left. Wall-Eye was the first to speak, "That was freaky!"

"That was, like, totally awesome!" countered Fung, grinning. "I mean, she can take out somebody five times her size, that ain't easy! She'll never be caught by the Furious Five or Po!"

"Uh, Fung?" interrupted Gah-ri, "Please don't tell me you're falling for the crazy gator lady!"

"What, no!" Fung's smile disappeared, "I'm just sayin', that was impressive! We gotta learn to do that!"

"Uuuummm," the crocs chorused.

"Oh, yeah."


	3. Chor-Gom

**After "Jailhouse Panda"**

Once again, the crocs were placed in the same cell as Tong Fo. They were annoying, thought the small mammal, but they were hard and willing workers. One day, a new prisoner was brought into Chor-Gom (please correct me if I misspelled). A female gator was shoved into the cell. Tong Fo did his creepy skittering around before revealing himself. The girl followed the noise with her head, not alarmed, in fact she was looking right at him when he stepped out of the dark.

"Hello," Tong Fo greeted.

"Hey, I'm Huton," she returned expressionlessly.

"What are you in for?"

The gator smirked, "I'm the Dragon Warrior in disguise come to get information from you."

Was she making fun of him? She would pay for that! Tong Fo leapt at her, but she swung around, swiping him with her tail and slamming him against the bars of the cell door. "Boys!" he called, hoping they would somehow take care of the impudent jokester.

The crocs made their appearance. "You!" called Fung as he caught sight of the gator.

"You guys again? Are you following me or somethin'?" she countered.

"Just get her out of here!" Tong Fo yelled at the crocs.

"Now I know you guys know better than that!" the gator smirked. Indeed they did; unfortunately, they were too scared of Tong Fo's big eyes to not at least try to fight her. Needless to say, she defeated them easily.

"What are you really in for?" demanded the mammal as his men groaned in pain.

"I'm a thief, one of the Hwai Dungsyi Bandits," she shrugged. "They caught me this time."

"You're one of Hwai Dungsyi!?" The group was famous for crimes, mostly robberies and beatings, but it was extremely hard to catch even one member. The girl nodded her head. "Fung, go get us some dinner!" The croc whined, but obeyed as Tong Fo apologized for his earlier attack.

The mammal and gator sat at opposite ends of a small table. "I could use someone like you, Gator," he opened. "You lie with such a careless ease. It's brilliant!"

Huton smirked, then got up from her seat and walked over to stand behind him, saying as she did, "Oh, look at this bruise on your shoulder. Did I do that?"

Her voice was silky and sounded concerned. Tong Fo sat still as he answered, "Yes, but it doesn't hurt too bad."

The reptile clicked her tongue in a disapproving way as she began to rub around the bruise with her cool claws, "No no, I did this, let me do something about it." Tong Fo felt shivers run up and down his spine as she continued to rub his shoulders. Suddenly he felt a slight pinch on his unharmed shoulder, and then he blacked out.

* * *

"Man that gator kicked our butts!" complained Fung as he lay on his bunk. "She's so brutal!"

"And I just saw her giving Tong Fo a massage!" whined Gah-ri, rubbing a bruise on his snout. Fung did not comment, but the thought of the gator (whose name he still did not know) and Tong Fo possibly becoming a couple annoyed him.

Suddenly the girl came into their cell. "I'm bustin' out, and I need your help. You in? Oh, and sorry about earlier," she said quickly.

"Where's Tong Fo?" asked Wall-Eye.

"He's gonna break out later."

Fung was not sure if they should trust her, but the thought of freedom was pretty tempting, "We're in!"

They broke out pretty much the same way as when Po was disguised as Shang, except this time Fung knew to lift the bar on the door. As they ran down the mountain path and Fung was towards the back of the group, he noticed the gator was not with them. Looking back, he saw her limping along way behind them. Had she been hurt? Quickly he ran back, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder so that she watched their backs as he ran. She had helped break them out, it was the least he could do, he reasoned.

Once they were a safe distance away, somewhere in the bamboo forest, the gator called that they could stop running. Fung grunted in relief as he set her down; she was not terribly heavy but carrying something big on your shoulder for a few miles is no fun.

"Thanks," she mumbled as she straightened herself.

"Were you hurt or somethin'?" he asked.

In answer, the gator held out her left foot, which was heavily bandaged. "When I was a kid," she explained, "my Dad tried to bind my feet. You take a girl's feet and break 'em in half, then bind 'em so they never totally heal. It keeps the girl from being able to run."

The crocs "oohed" in sympathy. "Why just the one foot?" asked Gah-ri.

"My boss came along and rescued me before my Dad could do my other foot. And I've learned to get along pretty well. I usually climb or swim when I need to make a quick getaway."

With that, they said their goodbyes. The gator jumped up into the bamboos and was soon out of sight. "Darnit!" Fung suddenly exclaimed, "I still don't know her name!"

* * *

Back at Chor-Gom, Tong Fo awoke in an empty cell. No matter how many times he called, no reptiles came. Finally a sun bear in the next cell informed him of their escape. Tong Fo growled angrily.

"Whatza matter?" asked the bear.

"That gator tricked me and stole my gang!"

"What gator?"

"She said her name was Huton of the Hwai Dungsyi."

"Those guys? She?" the bear chuckled humorlessly. "The girls in Hwai Dungsyi are trained as kunoichi, female ninjas. They are masters of deception."

"Well," Tong Fo pouted, "_she_ will never trick me again!"


	4. Good Croc Bad Croc

"Why exactly should I...oh yeah, I owe you one." Huton looked at her nails, "So what's up?"

"My brother was kidnapped by Jong Sung Jai Kai Chow!"

Apparently he had said just the right word. "_Kidnapped?_" she repeated. "Well what are we waiting for, let's go!" The alligator grabbed the crocodile's hand and ran off.

Fung could hardly believe his luck! Unlike Po, she did not stop to question if he was telling the truth or why he did not get his gang to help, did not even ask how his imaginary brother had been kidnapped.

* * *

"I can't thank you enough for helping me get my brother, Huton!" the croc smiled as he held a branch out of his way.

"I'm happy ta -WHOA!" the gator bent over backwards as Fung let the branch swing back, then limboed under it. "Happy to help," she continued, unsheathing a sword to block more oncoming branches. Suddenly Fung stopped, looking around. "What's up?" the gator asked, sheathing her blade.

"What, nothing, no reason," Fung gulped, "Just getting my bearings and stuff. Um, is that north?"

"You mean we're lost?!"

"Here," he handed her a scroll, "check the map."

Huton unrolled it, eyes growing wide as she cried, "This is all of China!"

"My brother's, in here somwhere," Fung circled the map, "So, just, you know!" He tried to smile. Huton just glared at him. Fung turned to continue when Huton grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from walking into a sign.

"What's it say?" she asked.

"What, can't you read?"

"Nope."

"Oh," Fung read the sign aloud, "'Jong Sung Jai Kai Chow's land. Any trespassers will have their heads boiled in cabbage, their earlobes stretched around their heads and continued.'"

"Continued?" Huton looked at him quizzically.

Fung went around to the back, the gator following, "'And their earlobes stretched around their heads. See diagram.' EWW!" Both creatures flinched disgustedly.

Turning around, they saw a little outpost station with several rhino guards, a bamboo pole lowered between them. "Prepare to have your -"

"Yeah," Huton held up a hand, "we read the sign. Look!" she pointed to the pole. The nearest rhino leaned over to look, and the gator snapped it in his face, knocking him over. She did the same to two more rhinos, then threw it up, crouching on the end like a cat ready to pounce, then falling down on top of another rhino, knocking him flat. Getting up, she started fighting the rest of the group, knocking them out.

"That was like awesome, gal!" Fung said delightedly. "I knew I couldn't do this without you!"

"When I agreed to help," she answered bitterly, "I didn't realize I'd be doing all the work!"

Fung threw his helmet down and glared at her, "Hey if you don't like the way I'm running things, maybe you'd like to be in charge! You know there's a lot of pressure, being the leader..." Seeing her expression was not changing, Fung sighed. "Who'm I kidding? All I ever do is mess up."

"Come on," said Huton gently, "that's not true."

"It is! This one time when I was working for my dad, I accidently glued a terra cotta warrior to his face, and now he can only grow a mustache on one side."

_How do you manage to glue it to someone's face!?_ the gator thought to herself.

"I had to become a bandit. It's the only thing I'm good at," he continued, sighing as he sat down.

"Don't go beatin' yourself up," Huton picked up the helmet and placed it on Fung's head. "Remember, you found me in a hole."

"True," Fung turned to her, "Don't you hate it when you mess up?"

"Why, and then ya gotta spend all your free time fixin' it, clean up the mess, bury someone up to their neck," she added the last part in a low voice.

"Hahaha, loser!" the croc pointed at her.

Huton looked at him in surprise before pointing back with a smirk, "Dork!"

"Doofus!" Fung stood up.

"Bungler!"

"Dimwit gator!" he said in a singsong voice.

"Oh, we playin' the species card now!" the gator smirked, "Moron mugger!" She spun around, swinging her tail at Fung. The croc jumped out of the way, laughing.

* * *

They continued swinging at each other and laughing until they reached -

"The palace!"

"So what's the plan?" she asked as they knelt in front of a large rock.

"Okay, first of all, I distract this guy here."

"And?" Huton suspected she would get Mission Impossible.

"Then you shimmy up this wall here. You take out the archers here, here, here, and here. After you disable the giant crossbow somewhere around here, you let me in through this side door here. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!" the croc smiled.

"What are you doing in the meantime?"

"Um, watching the master work?" Huton smirked as she set off.

* * *

Rhinos and water buffaloes were falling and grunting as Huton made her way through. When she opened the side door, Fung was very impressed, "That was, like, truly an incredible display of -" Huton grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

Inside, Fung walked with his hands behind his back. Behind him, Huton held his arm, wearing a curved pole on top of her head. "This is never going to work!" she whispered, "No one's going to believe I'm a guard!"

"Not with that attitude. Make it look good, hit me or something," he whispered back. She slapped him upside the head. "OW! Hey, quit hitting me, _guard_!" They walked past two guards.

"Just doing my job," she answered. The two guards fell for it.

"Look," whispered the croc, looking straight ahead, "that must be where they're holding my brother."

They walked up to the two guards standing in front of the door. "Sirs," the gator greeted, "I caught a prisoner, but I was out of cabbage, so I brought him here."

"You shouldn't be back here with a prisoner," answered the water buffalo.

"Where's your uniform?" demanded the rhino. Huton jumped up, kicking them in the heads and knocking them out.

"Hand me one of those crates," Fung held out his arms, "I'll sneak my bro out in it." Huton obliged. "I'll be right back, keep a look out." The croc was only gone a few seconds before he burst through the door, "LET'S GO!" The two reptiles ran out of the palace, with Huton guarding Fung and the crate.

"Close the gate!" a rhino ordered.

The kunoichi (A.N. Huton's boss has trained her to be a kuoichi, a female ninja) dived under the gate, holding it open for her partner. Fung was about to run off when he heard a pained roar behind her, followed by "My tail!" The tip of Huton's tail was caught under the gate. Fung helped her pull it loose. "You and your brother better get lost, Fung!"

"I couldn't have done it without ya! Thanks, Huton!"

"Sure thang, mugger!" the gator smirked as she leapt up into the bamboo.

* * *

The gorilla Pahng-jue was waiting for his student, Huton. One of his thieves had seen her run off with a crocodile, and the gorilla hated crocs! Ever since a crocodile member of the Hwai Dungsyi had been captured and told the authorities everything he knew about them. He should have known better than to make Huton a member; a gator was only a snout away from being a croc.

Huton returned and bowed in front of her master, "Wujia said you wanted to see me?"

"Were you with a crocodile bandit?" Huton gulped. Syaujye the monkey would not have told him; someone else must have seen her leave with Fung. "Never mind, I already know," continued the bandit. Cuffing Huton, he led her back to Jong's palace, telling her that the man's son had been reported kidnapped.

"FUUUNNG!" she yelled, furious.

* * *

The crocodile was pounced on by his gang. "Ow, quit it! It's me, Fung!" he threw them off.

"That Jong is gonna pay a fortune to get his kid back!" laughed Hong.

Gah-ri snickered, "So she fell for that sob story?"

"Yeah, guys," Fung leaned on the crate, "It all went down just like I said it would."

"And now she's gonna take the fall for the whole caper!" continued Hong. "I heard her boss turned her in to Jong's men!"

"He did!" Fung had really expected for Huton to never be caught. "She's the whole reason I was able to do this, I mean, she fought off the guards, snuck me in, she held the gate up and now she's probably- oh man! Having her head boiled in cabbage and earlobes stretched around her head and...continued!"

"And it's all because of Fung! Way to go Fung!" cheered Irwin.

Fung looked miserable. "Fung," piped up Gah-ri, "please tell me you did not fall for the crazy gator lady!"

Fung opened his mouth, but said nothing. She had helped him without question; she had defended him; she had returned anything she took from him, and she _was_ pretty. "Darn it all!" he grabbed the crate and ran back the way he had come.

* * *

"Where's my son?"

"I'd tell you if I knew but I don't," the kunoichi answered despairingly. "It wasn't my idea anyway, it was the croc Fung."

"Good news, my friend, I've decided to dispense with the cabbage water. It's too good for you!" Jong declared. "Bring in the devices. I'll even let you pick the method of your torture, my friend."

"I could help you track down the croc and your boy," Huton offered. Just then, an axe flew into the room, severing the chain which held the gator. The croc came in, wearing a curved pole on his head and carrying a crate.

"Fung!"

"Huton!" the croc held out his arms, but then dodged as two swords tried to severe his neck.

"You tricked me!" the gator growled. "I trusted you! And you let me take the heat!? Not cool, man!"

"But I came back to save you!" Fung defended as he dodged.

"Why should I believe you?" Huton grabbed the crate, holding it over her head.

"Because I brought the kid back!" he said hurriedly before she could throw it.

The lid of the crate fell off, revealing a smaller version of Jong. "Papa!" the boy ran to his father.

"You okay, my friend?"

"Yes papa!"

The gator turned to the croc, "You really came back for me?"

"Of course I did," answered Fung, not making eye contact for fear he would blush. "I mean, you help me, I help you. We losers gotta stick together!" He glanced sideways at her and saw she was smiling, not her usual smirk but an actual smile!

The kunoichi grabbed his hand, "Now let's get outta here!" They found the exit, getting into a fight with the guards outside. Just as they tried to escape under the gate, they were pulled back into the courtyard, next to the crossbow which had ended up facing the palace.

Jong made his way to the front, "Very impressive, my friends, but what you failed -" Huton grabbed Fung and pulled him up onto the crossbow with her, pulling the trigger rope. The machine launched against the palace wall, rocketing them past Jong and his men and through the gate. Once they were out, Fung ran screaming with Huton swinging through the trees beside him, laughing happily at their getaway.

* * *

"Did they...did they follow us?" the croc panted as the gator dropped down beside him.

"Nope."

Fung stood up, "I have ta go explain to the guys what happened, so, if you want to beat me up now's the time." Huton looked tempted, but shook her head. "I heard it was your boss turned you in."

"Yeah," she sighed, "he doesn't like crocs, so when he found out I'd helped you he fired me."

"Really!?" The gator nodded. "I didn't mean to get you fired or anything! What are you going to do now?" She shrugged. Fung swallowed, trying to pick his words carefully, "You have some amazing skills and all, you're a really good thief and, well, you've seen me and my gang, so, I was kinda wonderin', if maybe..."

"Are you trying to ask me to join your gang?" she smiled. Fung nodded. Her smile grew as she wrapped an arm around his, "Sure."


	5. Love Triangle

Huton did her best to teach the crocs. She tried to keep things simple, starting with balancing exercises and picking pockets. Fung, Gah-ri and the croc Hong were usually the quickest to catch on to new lessons, Wall-eye and Irwin were the slowest. And unlike Fung, the gator kept her temper under control, patiently explaining what the crocs should do and praising them for their efforts, even if they failed.

When they had first encountered Huton, Gah-ri had thought she was scary. She fought hard, and she had growled at them when they tried to steal her statue. She could climb, leap and jump unlike any other crocodilian (crocodiles and alligators), and she was a master at deception. These were part of the reasons why Gah-ri had been afraid of Fung falling in love with the girl.

However, as they all got to know the kunoichi better, the gharial could see how Fung could be attracted to her. She was pretty, and she was being very nice to them all, now they were in the same gang. She did not yell or shove anyone when she was upset with them, and they were comfortable talking to each other. Huton had told the crocs how she had been kidnapped by the leader of the Hwai Dungsyi, Pahng-jue, when she was having her feet bound. The gorilla had kept guards with drawn swords over her until she agreed to become a member of the bandit gang. And because she had not returned to her family within a month of being kidnapped she was considered by her village a traitor, disowned by her father's family and banished from the village.

Gah-ri began to admire the gator, and when she began having conversations with him about his interests he thought he was falling in love. Fung had not actually told Huton that he liked her, so it should be okay for Gah-ri to express his feelings, right? Unfortunately, he somehow got the idea in his head that he should ask Fung's permission first.

The two crocs were sitting on a log together one evening, having dinner. Gah-ri picked at his rice, then set the bowl down and cleared his throat. Fung turned to him, "What's up?"

Gah-ri inhaled before starting, "You still haven't told Huton why you really went back to save her from Jong, have you?" The mugger (A.N. I think that's the name of Fung's breed) shook his head. "Well, I can see why you might like her. She's cute and nice." The bandit leader grinned bashfully. "So, I want to tell her that I like her."

Fung frowned, "What?"

"I like her, and I want to tell her that."

The mugger shook his head in disbelief, "I thought _you _said she was crazy."

"Well, it turned out I was wrong."

"But _I_ like her."

"You haven't told her yet. And I like her too, now."

Fung jumped up and growled at the smaller croc, "But I liked her first!"

Gah-ri became nervous. He knew he could not beat Fung in a physical fight, but he had as much right to like Huton as Fung did, right? He stood up and looked the mugger in the eye, "I'm going to tell her."

Irwin was a nervous type, so when he heard a sound like fighting over where Fung and Gah-ri had gone to eat, he had to sneak over and see if there was any trouble. The two crocs were fighting alright, but they were attacking each other! Something they had not done in quite a while. Irwin had to go get the others. "Fung and Gah-ri are killing each other!" he cried to the gang.

"What?!" answered Huton, dropping an armload of firewood.

"Come and see!" shouted Irwin, hopping sideways a little to be sure the others were following before he ran, leading them to the scene.

Fung had suffered a black eye and a noseful of rice, but Gah-ri was bruised in the stomach, shoulders and face. Fung reached back for another punch, but instead of colliding with Gah-ri's nose it got caught in his teeth. The mugger swung his tail and the gharial's unprotected back, but it was grabbed by the gator. "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" she yelled, pushing them away from each other and placing herself between them. "Now, what's going on?"

Both men started at once, shouting unintelligible accusations at each other before Huton grabbed their snouts, holding their mouths closed. "Let's try this again. Gah-ri, what happened?" she let go of the smaller croc.

"I told Fung that I wanted to tell you how I liked you since he hasn't told you yet -"

"You knew I liked her first!" the mugger interrupted, squirming out of the gator's grip.

"But you weren't saying anything!"

"So? I liked her first, you gotta give me a turn first!"

"No I don't! There's no taking turns!"

"Shut up you -"

"QUIET!" the kunoichi raised her voice over them both. The two crocs looked down at the ground, feeling rather awkward. Huton glared at them both before beginning, "First of all, you guys are friends and teammates, you shouldn't be fighting over who gets to ask who out first, that's just stupid! Second, Gah-ri you don't have to ask Fung's permission to ask me out, he's not my parent. And Fung, you don't have the right to keep him from asking me. Third, can I talk to each alone a minute? Gah-ri first."

The other crocs, sensing the excitement was over, went back to camp. Fung sat down on the log without any appetite to finish his dinner. "He bit my hand," he muttered to himself as the gator and gharial walked away.

Gah-ri's stomach felt full of butterflies. What was Huton going to say? Did her asking to talk to him first mean rejection or acceptance? Once they were alone, they turned to each other. "So..?" the croc coaxed her to begin.

"I'm flattered that you like me, I really am," she started, "But I like Fung."

Gah-ri felt like the world shattered. "I'm really sorry," she continued, "but it'd just be kinda weird for me because..." she trailed off, not sure how to put what she wanted to say.

"Because why?!" he tried to hold back a sob, sniffing slightly. "Not good enough for you? Not big or strong enough?"

"You remind me of my cousin," she surprised him, "and he was more of a brother to me. You can't date your brother, or your cousin!"

"But you and I aren't related."

"I know, but you're still a lot like him. It'd just seem wrong to me. Sorry," she looked genuine, but the gharial could not be sure. "I'll tell you what we can do, though," she continued with a small smile, "There's this thing where two people cut their thumbs and hold the blood up to each other, and they make a promise to regard each other as siblings forever, and they protect each other and all. Would you care to make the oath with me?"

Gah-ri thought about this. On the one hand, he was hurt that she had not accepted his feelings, and he did not particularly like the idea of cutting himself. On the other hand, he and Huton would still be close, and he was sure he could use her protection, not being the best of fighters himself. "Okay," he finally answered.

Huton drew one of her swords, "First we each make a little slice on our thumb, just enough to bleed." She nicked herself with the blade edge, then offered the sword to Gah-ri. He closed his eyes tightly as he poked himself with the bladetip, "Ow!"

"Now we just hold our thumbs up against each other's," the kunoichi held out her hand in a "thumbs up", and the croc pressed his thumb against hers. "I hereby promise to consider you my brother, to look out for you and help you whenever and however I can." The gharial repeated the promise, replacing the word brother with sister. The gator helped bandage his thumb when they had finished, then they headed back. Gah-ri went to the campsite, where the other bandits tried to press him for details on the events of the evening. But Gah-ri had decided he would keep his "brotherhood" with Huton a secret, at least for a while.

Fung stood up as Huton approached him, twiddling his claws. Had she chosen Gah-ri? She was walking over with no expressions on her face.

The gator stopped about a foot away from the croc. They stared at each other a moment before Fung hung his head down, "I was going to tell you, but I wanted to do it sometime when we were alone, and I thought I couldn't just up and say, 'Hey, there's something I need to say, let's go'!"

"I like you too."

The mugger almost did not hear it, he had not finished and her voice was soft. When his brain registered what he had heard, his head snapped up, "What?"

The kunoichi smiled her genuine smile, "I like you too."

The bandit leader started to smile, "What about Gah-ri?"

"We talked it out; it wouldn't work. Besides, I like you."

Fung smiled. He had had crushes before, but none that accepted him. Now, the best of them all liked him back! "So, uh, will you go out with me sometime?"

The female's smile grew as she snuggled up to Fung, walking around him and brushing her tail against him. That nearly made the croc faint, but instead he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tucking her snout under his. _This thing is off to a promising start,_ Fung thought to himself with a grin.


End file.
